Systems, devices, and methods for long term evolution and wireless local area interworking

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present disclosure describe systems, devices, and methods for long-term evolution and wireless local area interworking. Various embodiments may include utilizing access network selection and traffic steering rules based on radio access network assistance parameters. Other embodiments may be described or claimed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.61/990,694 filed May 8, 2014, entitled “Stage-2 and Stage-3 Details ofLTE/WLAN Radio Interworking,” and U.S. Provisional Application No.62/029,936 filed Jul. 28, 2014, entitled “Amendment to WLAN/3GPPInterworking RAN Rules.” The entirety of the above-listed applicationsare hereby incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field ofwireless communication, and more particularly, to systems, devices, andmethods for long-term evolution and wireless local area interworking.

BACKGROUND

Typically, cellular networks need to be able to handoff or offload userequipment (UEs) to wireless local area networks (WLANs). UEs may alsoneed to know how to direct traffic across multiple networks includingboth radio access network (RANs) and WLANs. An example of a cellularnetwork may include a 3G or 4G network such as those defined by thirdgeneration partnership project (3GPP) specifications. An example of aWLAN may include a Wi-Fi network such as those described by theInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11specifications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments will be readily understood by the following detaileddescription in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. To facilitatethis description, like reference numerals designate like structuralelements. Embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not by wayof limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a wireless communication environment inaccordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 2 is flowchart of an access network selection and traffic steeringoperation of a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a configuration operation of a network node inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example computing device that may beused to practice various embodiments described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings, which form a part hereof wherein like numeralsdesignate like parts throughout, and in which is shown by way ofillustration embodiments that may be practiced. It is to be understoodthat other embodiments may be utilized and structural or logical changesmay be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

Various operations may be described as multiple discrete actions oroperations in turn, in a manner that is most helpful in understandingthe claimed subject matter. However, the order of description should notbe construed as to imply that these operations are necessarily orderdependent. In particular, these operations may not be performed in theorder of presentation. Operations described may be performed in adifferent order than the described embodiment. Various additionaloperations may be performed or described operations may be omitted inadditional embodiments.

For the purposes of the present disclosure, the term “or” is used as aninclusive term to mean at least one of the components coupled with theterm. For example, the phrase “A or B” means (A), (B), or (A and B); andthe phrase “A, B, or C” means (A), (B), (C), (A and B), (A and C), (Band C), or (A, B, and C).

The description may use the phrases “in an embodiment,” or “inembodiments,” which may each refer to one or more of the same ordifferent embodiments. Furthermore, the terms “comprising,” “including,”“having,” and the like, as used with respect to embodiments of thepresent disclosure, are synonymous.

As used herein, the term “circuitry” may refer to, be part of, orinclude an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electroniccircuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group), or memory (shared,dedicated, or group) that execute one or more software or firmwareprograms, a combinational logic circuit, or other suitable hardwarecomponents that provide the described functionality.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a wireless communication environment100 in accordance with various embodiments. The environment 100 mayinclude a user equipment (UE) 104 that is capable of communicating overat least two wireless communication networks. The UE 104 may includecontrol circuitry 108 coupled with an evolved universal terrestrialradio access network (EUTRAN) radio 112 that is capable of wirelesscommunication with one or more nodes of a EUTRAN, for example, evolvednode B (eNB) 116. The control circuitry 108 may be further coupled witha WLAN radio 120 that is capable of wireless communication with one ormore nodes of a WLAN, for example, access point 124.

The AP 124 may include wireless transceiver 128 coupled with controlcircuitry 132. The control circuitry 132 may control operation andcommunication of the AP 124. In some embodiments the control circuitry132 may control communications over the wireless transceiver 128 and oneor more additional transceivers, which may be wired or wireless. In someembodiments the control circuitry 132 may be embodied in an accesscontroller that is disposed separately from an access point.

The eNB 116 may also include a wireless transceiver 136 and controlcircuitry 140. The control circuitry 140 may control operation andcommunication of the eNB 116. The eNB 116 may be part of a 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) long-term evolution (LTE) network(or an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network) and may include transceiver 144 tocommunicate with one or more nodes of the LTE/LTE-A network, forexample, network controller 148. The eNB 116 may include one or moreadditional transceivers, which may be wired or wireless.

The network controller 148 may include a transceiver 152 to communicatewith the transceiver 144 of the eNB 116. The network controller 148 mayfurther include configuration circuitry 156. In some embodiments, theconfiguration circuitry 156 may provide radio access network (RAN)assistance parameters to UEs present in a serving cell of the eNB 116,for example, UE 104. The RAN assistance parameters may be provided tothe UEs through dedicated or broadcast signaling. The RAN assistanceparameters may be used by the UEs, in conjunction with rules with whichthe UEs are provisioned, to make access network selection and trafficsteering decisions as will be described in further detail herein.

The network controller 148 may be part of the EUTRAN along with the eNB116, another EUTRAN, or an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) that is coupledwith the EUTRAN of the eNB 116. As used herein, an EUTRAN of the eNB 116may refer to a serving cell provided by the eNB 116.

The EPC may include an access network discovery and selection function(ANDSF) to assist UEs to discover non-3GPP access networks that can beused for data communication in addition to 3GPP access networks andprovide the UE with rules policing the connection to these networks. TheEPC may also provide a communication interface between various RANs andother networks.

While the configuration circuitry 156 is shown in the network controller148, in other embodiments some or all of the configuration circuitry 156may be disposed in the eNB 116.

Various embodiments include RAN-assisted UE-based bidirectional trafficsteering between EUTRAN and WLAN. For example, a UE 104 may useinformation provided by components of the EUTRAN, for example, eNB 116,to determine when to steer traffic from the EUTRAN to the WLAN and viceversa. In some embodiments, the UE 104 may steer traffic differentlybased on whether the UE is in an RRC idle or an RRC connected mode.

The RAN assistance parameters may include EUTRAN signal strength andquality thresholds, WLAN utilization thresholds, WLAN backhaul data ratethresholds, WLAN identifiers (used in access network selection andtraffic steering (ANSTS) rules) and offload preference indicator (OPI)(used in ANDSF policies). The UE 104 may use the RAN assistanceparameters in the evaluation of ANSTS rules, described herein, toperform traffic steering decisions between EUTRAN and WLAN.

After receiving the RAN assistance parameters, the UE 104 may keep andapply the parameters or discard or ignore the parameters based onvarious situations and whether the parameters were received throughdedicated or broadcast signaling. For example, if the UE 104 is inRRC_CONNECTED, the control circuitry 108 may apply the RAN assistanceparameters obtained via dedicated signaling. Otherwise, the UE 104 mayapply the RAN assistance parameters obtained via broadcast signaling. Ifthe UE 104 is in RRC_IDLE, it may keep and apply the RAN assistanceparameters obtained via dedicated signaling until a cell reselection orhandover occurs or a timer has expired since the UE 104 enteredRRC_IDLE. After a cell reselection or handover occurs or the timerexpires, the UE 104 may apply RAN assistance parameters obtained viabroadcast signaling.

In some embodiments, a user of the UE 104 may set preferences withrespect to the network with which communication should be conducted.These user-preference settings may take precedent over ANSTS rules.

A user equipment in RRC_CONNECTED or RRC_IDLE that supports trafficsteering, shall use the ANSTS unless the UE is provisioned with ANDSFpolicies by the ANDSF of the EPC. If the UE 104 is provisioned withANDSF policies, the UE 104 may forward received RAN assistanceparameters to upper layers of the UE 104. If the UE 104 is notprovisioned with ANDSF policies (or it does not have an active ANDSFpolicy), it may use received RAN assistance parameters in ANSTS definedin RAN.

When the UE 104 applies ANSTS rules, using received RAN assistanceparameters, it may perform traffic steering between the EUTRAN and WLANwith access point name (APN) granularity. For example, when the UE 104moves the traffic of an evolved packet system (EPS) bearer belonging toan APN between EUTRAN and WLAN it may move the traffic of all the EPSbearers that belong to that APN. The information about which APNs areoffloadable to WLAN may be provided by NAS.

In some situations, a EUTRAN may be shared among a number of public landmobile networks (PLMNs). In these situations, each PLMN sharing theEUTRAN may be associated with its own set of RAN assistance parameters.In some embodiments, the eNB 116 may receive or otherwise determine aset of RAN assistance parameters for each PLMN that the eNB 116 serves.The eNB 116 may then deliver these sets of RAN assistance parameters tothe UEs in the EUTRAN through broadcast or dedicated signaling.

RAN assistance parameters may be provided to the UE 104 in one or moresystem information blocks (SIBs) or in an RRC connection reconfigurationmessage. If any of the RAN assistance parameters are provided indedicated signaling, for example, in an RRC connection reconfigurationmessage, the UE 104 may ignore RAN assistance parameters provided insystem information, for example, SIBs. In some embodiments, the controlcircuitry 108 may determine that RAN assistance parameters received viasystem information are valid only if the UE 104 is camped on a suitablecell.

In some embodiments, the RAN assistance parameters may includeidentifiers of target WLANs, for example the WLAN associated with the AP124, to which traffic may be steered. The WLAN identifiers may includeservice set identifiers (SSIDs), basic service set identifiers (BSSIDs),and/or homogeneous extended service set identifiers (HHIDs). ANSTS rulesmay be applicable to the target WLANs. In some embodiments, these ANSTSrules may only be applicable if the UE 104 is capable of trafficsteering between EUTRAN and WLAN and the UE 104 is not provisioned withactive ANDSF policies as described above.

In some respects, the ANSTS rules and the ANDSF policies may beconsidered two alternative mechanisms that provide similarfunctionality. Some operators may use ANDSF, while others use ANSTS.Generally speaking, ANDSF may be more comprehensive and, therefore,expensive. Operators that do not need full functionality of ANDSF mayprefer to use cheaper ANSTS instead.

Generally, a single operator may only use one mechanism. However, incertain cases, conflicts may happen. For example, when a UE fromoperator A that uses ANDSF is roaming in a network of operator B thatuses ANSTS. In such instances, the mechanism that takes precedent may beexplicitly defined.

A first set of the ANSTS rules may describe situations in which trafficmay be steered from an EUTRAN to a WLAN. These situations may be basedon operational states in the EUTRAN and the WLAN as compared to variousthresholds provided in the RAN assistance parameters. In someembodiments, if predefined conditions are met, then an access stratum inthe control circuitry 108 may indicate to upper layers of the controlcircuitry 108, for example, a non-access stratum, when and for whichWLAN identifiers (out of a list of WLAN identifiers provided in the RANaccess parameters) certain conditions for steering traffic from anEUTRAN to a WLAN are satisfied for a predetermined time interval. Thepredetermined time interval may be based on a timer value,TsteeringWLAN, which may be a parameter of the RAN assistanceparameters.

The conditions for steering traffic to a WLAN may include EUTRAN servingcell conditions and target WLAN conditions. The EUTRAN serving cellconditions may include: Qrxlevmeas<Thresh_(ServingOffloadWLAN, LowP); orQqualmeas<Thresh_(ServingOffloadWLAN, LowQ), where Qrxlevmeas may be ameasured reference signal received power (RSRP) (in dBM) of the EUTRANcell, Thresh_(ServingOffloadWLAN, LowP) may be an RSRP threshold (indBM) used by the UE 104 for traffic steering to WLAN, Qqualmeas may be ameasured reference signal received quality (RSRQ) (in dB) in the EUTRANcell, and Thresh_(ServingOffloadWLAN, LowQ) may be an RSRQ threshold (indB) used by the UE 104 for traffic steering to WLAN. Thus, the controlcircuitry 108 may determine that the EUTRAN serving cell conditions aresatisfied if a measured cell receive level value of the EUTRAN is lessthan the corresponding RSRP threshold or a measured cell quality valueof the EUTRAN is less than the corresponding RSRQ threshold.

The target WLAN conditions may include: ChannelUtilizationWLAN<Thresh_(ChUtilWLAN, Low);BackhaulRateDlWLAN>Thresh_(BackhRateDlWLAN, High);BackhaulRateUlWLAN>Thresh_(BackhRateUlWLAN, High); andBeaconRSSI>Thresh_(RSSIWLAN, High), where ChannelUtilizationWLAN may bea WLAN channel utilization value from basic service set (BSS) loadinformation element (IE) obtained from IEEE 802.11 (Beacon or ProbeResponse) signaling for an indicated WLAN identifier,Thresh_(ChUtilWLAN, Low) may be a WLAN channel utilization (BSS load)threshold used by the UE 104 for traffic steering to WLAN,BackhaulRateDlWLAN may be a backhaul available downlink bandwidth thatmay be calculated as Downlink Speed*(1−Downlink Load/255), where theDownlink Speed and Downlink Load parameters may be drawn from wide areanetwork (WAN) Metrics element obtained via access network query protocol(ANQP) signaling from Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA) hotspot (HS) 2.0 (based onIEEE 802.11u and WFA extensions), Thresh_(BackhRateDlwLAN, High) may bea backhaul available downlink bandwidth threshold used by the UE 104 fortraffic steering to WLAN, BackhaulRateUlWLAN may be a backhaul availableuplink bandwidth that may be calculated as Uplink Speed*(1−UplinkLoad/255), where the Uplink Speed and Uplink Load parameters may bedrawn from the WAN metrics element obtained via ANQP signaling from WFAHS2.0, Thresh_(BackhRateUlWLAN, High) may be a backhaul available uplinkbandwidth threshold used by the UE 104 for traffic steering to WLAN,BeaconRSSI may be an RSSI as measured by the UE 104 on the WLAN Beacon,and Thresh_(RSSIWLAN, High) may be a Beacon RSSI threshold used by theUE 104 for traffic steering to WLAN. Thus, the control circuitry 108 maydetermine that the WLAN conditions are satisfied if a WLAN channelutilization is less than the corresponding WLAN channel utilizationthreshold, a WLAN downlink backhaul rate is greater than a correspondingWLAN downlink backhaul rate threshold, a WLAN uplink backhaul rate isgreater than a corresponding WLAN uplink backhaul rate threshold, and abeacon RSSI is greater than a corresponding WLAN beacon RSSI threshold.

In some embodiments, the UE 104 may receive only a subset of thresholdsdiscussed herein. In such embodiments, the UE 104 may exclude theevaluation of a measurement for which a corresponding threshold has notbeen provided.

In an embodiment in which more than one target WLAN meets the conditionsabove, it may be up to the UE 104 to choose one of the available targetWLANs. In some embodiments, each of the target WLANs may have anassociated priority by which the UE 104 selects the WLAN with which toassociate. The associated priority may be transmitted with the WLANidentifiers in the RAN assistance parameters.

A second set of the ANSTS rules may describe situations in which trafficmay be steered from a WLAN to an EUTRAN cell. Similar to the abovediscussion, these situations may be based on operational states in theWLAN and EUTRAN cell as compared to various thresholds provided in theRAN assistance parameters. In some embodiments, if predefined conditionsare met, then an access stratum in the control circuitry 108 mayindicate to upper layers of the control circuitry 108, for example, anon-access stratum, when certain conditions for steering traffic from aWLAN to an EUTRAN cell are satisfied for a predetermined time interval,TsteeringWLAN.

The WLAN conditions for steering traffic to a target EUTRAN cell fromthe WLAN may include: ChannelUtilizationWLAN>Thresh_(ChUtilWLAN, High);BackhaulRateDlWLAN<Thresh_(BackhRateDlWLAN, Low);BackhaulRateUlWLAN<Thresh_(BackhRateUlWLAN, Low); orBeaconRSSI<Thresh_(RSSIWLAN, Low), where Thresh_(ChUtilWLAN,High) may bea WLAN channel utilization (BSS load) threshold used by the UE 104 fortraffic steering to EUTRAN, Thresh_(BackhRateDlWLAN, Low) may be abackhaul available downlink bandwidth threshold used by the UE 104 fortraffic steering to EUTRAN, Thresh_(BackhRateUlwLAN, Low) may be abackhaul available uplink bandwidth threshold used by the UE 104 fortraffic steering to EUTRAN, and Thresh_(RSSIWLAN, Low) may be a BeaconRSSI threshold used by the UE 104 for traffic steering to EUTRAN. Thus,the control circuitry 108 may determine the WLAN conditions for steeringtraffic to the target EUTRAN cell are satisfied if a WLAN channelutilization is greater than a corresponding WLAN channel utilizationthreshold, a WLAN downlink backhaul rate is less than a correspondingWLAN downlink backhaul rate threshold, a WLAN uplink backhaul rate isless than a corresponding WLAN uplink backhaul rate threshold, or abeacon RSSI is less than a corresponding WLAN beacon RSSI threshold.

The EUTRAN conditions for steering traffic to a target EUTRAN cell froma WLAN may include: Qrxlevmeas>Thresh_(ServingOffloadWLAN, HighP); andQqualmeas>Thresh_(ServingOffloadwLAN, HighQ), whereThresh_(ServingOffloadwLAN, HighP) may be an RSRP threshold (in dBM)used by the UE 104 for traffic steering to EUTRAN andThresh_(ServingOffloadwLAN, HighQ) may be an RSRQ threshold (in dB) usedby the UE 104 for traffic steering to EUTRAN. Thus, the controlcircuitry 108 may determine the EUTRAN conditions for steering trafficto the target EUTRAN cell are satisfied if a measured cell receive levelvalue of the EUTRAN is greater than a corresponding RSRP threshold and ameasured cell quality value of the EUTRAN is greater than acorresponding RSRQ threshold.

As can be seen in the above, and in Table 1 below, the RAN assistanceparameters may include first EUTRAN/WLAN thresholds for steering trafficfrom an EUTRAN to the WLAN and second EUTRAN/WLAN thresholds forsteering traffic from a WLAN to an EUTRAN. The different thresholds maybe separated by a sufficient degree to prevent ping-ponging betweenEUTRAN and WLAN. Thus, the high and low thresholds may define anacceptable operating range in which traffic steering may not beemployed.

In some embodiments, if upper layers of the control circuitry 108receive an indication provided by an access stratum of the controlcircuitry 108 that contradicts with user preferences or if the UE 104has an active ANDSF policy, the upper layers may ignore the indicationand may not engage in traffic steering.

As discussed above, in some embodiments, the RAN assistance parametersbe transmitted in a SystemInformation message. The SystemInformationmessage may be used to convey one or more system information blocks(SIBs). The included SIBs may be transmitted with the same periodicity.The SystemInformation message may be transmitted from the EUTRAN to theUE 104 over a broadcast control channel (BCCH) logical channel and mayhave a transparent mode (TM) radio link control (RLC)—service accesspoint (SAP).

In some embodiments, the SystemInformation message may have an abstractsyntax notation (ASN) as follows.

--ASN1START SystemInformation ::= SEQUENCE { criticalExtensions CHOICE {systemInformation-r8 SystemInformation-r8-IEs, criticalExtensionsFutureSEQUENCE { } } } SystemInformation-r8-IEs ::= SEQUENCE { sib-TypeAndInfoSEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxSIB)) OF CHOICE { sib2SystemInformationBlockType2, sib3 SystemInformationBlockType3, sib4SystemInformationBlockType4, sib5 SystemInformationBlockType5, sib6SystemInformationBlockType6, sib7 SystemInformationBlockType7, sib8SystemInformationBlockType8, sib9 SystemInformationBlockType9, sib10SystemInformationBlockType10, sib11 SystemInformationBlockType11, ...,sib12-v920 SystemInformationBlockType12-r9 sib13-v920SystemInformationBlockType13-r9 sib14-v1130SystemInformationBlockType14-r11 sib15-v1130SystemInformationBlockType15-r11 sib16-v1130SystemInformationBlockType16-r11 sib17-v12xySystemInformationBlockType17-r12 sib18-v12xySystemInformationBlockType18-r12 }, nonCriticalExtensionSystemInformation-v8a0-IEs OPTIONAL -- Need OP }SystemInformation-v8a0-IEs ::= SEQUENCE { lateNonCriticalExtension OCTETSTRING OPTIONAL, -- Need OP nonCriticalExtension SEQUENCE { } OPTIONAL-- Need OP } -- ASN1STOP

The above ASN of the SystemInformation message system includesinformation for system information block types 17 and 18, which mayinclude the RAN assistance parameters in some embodiments. In oneexample, the various thresholds of the RAN assistance parameters may beincluded in SystemInformationBlockType17 and the list of target WLANidentifiers may be included in SystemInformationBlockType18.

SystemInformationBlockType17 information element may have an ANS formatas indicated below in accordance with some embodiments.

-- ASN1START SystemInformationBlockType17-r12 ::= SEQUENCE {wlanOffloadParam-r12 CHOICE { wlanOffload-Common-r12WlanOffload-Param-r12, wlanOffload-PerPLMN-List-r12 SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxPLMN-r11)) OF WlanOffload-ParamPerPLMN-r12 } OPTIONAL, ...,lateNonCriticalExtension OCTET STRING OPTIONAL }WlanOffload-ParamPerPLMN-r12 ::= SEQUENCE { ran-Param-r12WlanOffload-Param-r12 OPTIONAL } WlanOffload-Param-r12 ::= SEQUENCE {thresholdRSRP-Low-r12 RSRP-Range OPTIONAL, thresholdRSRP-High-r12RSRP-Range OPTIONAL, thresholdRSRQ-Low-r12 RSRQ-Range OPTIONAL,thresholdRSRQ-High-r12 RSRQ-Range OPTIONAL, thresholdRSSI-Low-r12RSSI-Range OPTIONAL, thresholdRSSI-High-r12 RSSI-Range OPTIONAL,thresholdChannelUtilization-Low-r12 INTEGER (1...255) OPTIONAL,thresholdChannelUtilization-High-r12 INTEGER (1...255) OPTIONAL,thresholdBackhaulDLBandwidth-Low-r12 INTEGER (1... 4194304) OPTIONAL,thresholdBackhaulDLBandwidth-High-r12 INTEGER (1... 4194304) OPTIONAL,thresholdBackhaulULBandwidth-Low-r12 INTEGER (1... 4194304) OPTIONAL,thresholdBackhaulULBandwidth-High-r12 INTEGER (1... 4194304) OPTIONAL,offloadPreferenceIndicator-r12 BIT STRING (SIZE (2)) OPTIONAL,t-SteeringWLAN-r12 T-Reselection OPTIONAL, ... } -- ASN1STOP

The field descriptions of the SystemInformationBlockType17 are describedin Table 1.

TABLE 1 SystemInformationBlockType17 field descriptions wlanOffloadParamThe RAN assistance parameters for traffic steering between E-UTRAN andWLAN. wlanOffload-Common The RAN assistance parameters for trafficsteering between E-UTRAN and WLAN applicable for all PLMN(s).wlanOffload-PerPMN-List The RAN assistance parameters for trafficsteering between E-UTRAN and WLAN per PLMN, listed in the same order asthe PLMN(s) occur in plmn-IdentityList in SystemInformationBlockType1.thresholdRSRP-Low Indicates the RSRP threshold (in dBm) used by the UEfor traffic steering to WLAN. Parameter:Thresh_(ServingOffloadWLAN,LowP) used in ANSTS rules described herein.thresholdRSRP-High Indicates the RSRP threshold (in dBm) used by the UEfor traffic steering to E-UTRAN. Parameter:Thresh_(ServingOffloadWLAN,HighP) used in ANSTS rules described herein.thresholdRSRQ-Low Indicates the RSRQ threshold (in dB) used by the UEfor traffic steering to WLAN. Parameter:Thresh_(ServingOffloadWLAN,LowQ) used in ANSTS rules described herein.thresholdRSRQ-High Indicates the RSRQ threshold (in dB) used by the UEfor traffic steering to E-UTRAN. Parameter:Thresh_(ServingOffloadWLAN,HighQ) used in ANSTS rules described herein.thresholdRSSI-Low Indicates the Beacon RSSI threshold used by the UE fortraffic steering to E-UTRAN. Parameter: Thresh_(RSSIWLAN,Low) used inANSTS rules described herein. thresholdRSSI-High Indicates the BeaconRSSI threshold used by the UE for traffic steering to WLAN. Parameter:Thresh_(RSSIWLAN,High) used in ANSTS rules described herein.thresholdChannelUtilization-Low Indicates the WLAN channel utilization(BSS load) threshold used by the UE for traffic steering to WLAN.Parameter: Thresh_(ChUtilWLAN,Low) used in ANSTS rules described herein.thresholdChannelUtilization-High Indicates the WLAN channel utilization(BSS load) threshold used by the UE for traffic steering to E-UTRAN.Parameter: Thresh_(chUtilWLAN,High) used in ANSTS rules describedherein. thresholdBackhaulDLBandwidth-Low Indicates the backhaulavailable downlink bandwidth threshold used by the UE for trafficsteering to E-UTRAN. Parameter: Thresh_(BackhRateDLWLAN,Low) used inANSTS rules described herein. Value in kilobits/second.thresholdBackhaulDLBandwidth-High Indicates the backhaul availabledownlink bandwidth threshold used by the UE for traffic steering toWLAN. Parameter: Thresh_(BackhRateDLWLAN,High) used in ANSTS rulesdescribed herein. Value in kilobits/second.thresholdBackhaulULBandwidth-Low Indicates the backhaul available uplinkbandwidth threshold used by the UE for traffic steering to E-UTRAN.Parameter: Thresh_(BackhRateULWLAN,Low) used in ANSTS rules describedherein. Value in kilobits/second. thresholdBackhaulULBandwidth-HighIndicates the backhaul available uplink bandwidth threshold used by theUE for traffic steering to WLAN. Parameter:Thresh_(BackhRateULWLAN,High) used in ANSTS rules described herein.Value in kilobits/second. offloadPreferenceIndicator Indicates theOffload preference indicator. t-SteeringWLAN Indicates the timer valueduring which the rules should be fulfilled before starting trafficsteering between E-UTRAN and WLAN. Parameter: Tsteering_(WLAN) used inANSTS rules described herein.

In some embodiments, if the UE 104 has been provisioned with ANDSFpolicies as defined in 3GPP TS 24.312 v12.4.0 (Mar. 17, 2014), then uponreceiving the RAN assistance parameters in theSystemInformationBlockType17, the lower layers of the UE 104 may providethe RAN assistance parameters for access network selection and trafficsteering between EUTRAN and WLAN to the upper layers of the UE 104.

SystemInformationBlockType18 information element may have an ANS formatas indicated below in accordance with some embodiments.

-- ASN1START SystemInformationBlockType18-r12 ::= SEQUENCE {wlanIdentifiersListPerPLMN-r12 WlanIdentifiersListPerPLMN-r12 OPTIONAL,..., lateNonCriticalExtension OCTET STRING OPTIONAL }WlanIdentifiersListPerPLMN-r12 ::=SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxPLMN-r11)) OFWlanIdentifiersList-r12 WlanIdentifiersList-r12 ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxWLANId-r12)) OF WlanIdentifier-r12 WlanIdentifier-r12 ::= OCTETSTRING (SIZE (FFS)) -- ASN1STOP

The wlanIdentifiersListPerPLMN may be a list of WLAN identifiers forWLAN access network selection per PLMN, listed in the same order thatthe PLMNs occur in plmn-IdentityList in SystemInformationBlockType1. Thelist of WLAN identifiers may indicate which WLANs the UE 104 may connectto if it is not provisioned with ANDSF policies.

In some embodiments changes to SIB types in addition to the SIBTypesthat actually carry the RAN assistance parameters may be instituted toaccount for the RAN assistance parameters. For example, aSystemInformationBlockType1 Message may be updated to include an ASN asfollows.

-- ASN1START SystemInformationBlockType1 ::= SEQUENCE {cellAccessRelatedInfo SEQUENCE { plmn-IdentityList PLMN-IdentityList,trackingAreaCode TrackingAreaCode, cellIdentity CellIdentity, cellBarredENUMERATED {barred, notBarred}, intraFreqReselection ENUMERATED{allowed, notAllowed}, csg-Indication BOOLEAN, csg-Identity CSG-Identity OPTIONAL -- Need OR }, cellSelectionInfo SEQUENCE { q-RxLevMinQ-RxLevMin, q-RxLevMinOffset INTEGER (1..8) OPTIONAL -- Need OP }, p-MaxP-Max OPTIONAL, -- Need OP freqBandIndicator FreqBandIndicator,schedulingInfoList SchedulingInfoList, tdd-Config TDD-Config OPTIONAL,-- Cond TDD si-WindowLength ENUMERATED { ms1, ms2, ms5, ms10, ms15,ms20, ms40}, systemInfoValueTag INTEGER (0..31), nonCriticalExtensionSystemInformationBlockType1-v890-IEs OPTIONAL -- Need OP }SystemInformationBlockType1-v890-IEs::= SEQUENCE {lateNonCriticalExtension OCTET STRING (CONTAININGSystemInformationBlockType1-v8h0-IEs) OPTIONAL, -- Need OPnonCriticalExtension SystemInformationBlockType1-v920-IEs OPTIONAL --Need OP } -- Late non critical extensionsSystemInformationBlockType1-v8h0-IEs ::= SEQUENCE { multiBandInfoListMultiBandInfoList OPTIONAL, -- Need OR nonCriticalExtensionSystemInformationBlockType1-v9e0-IEs OPTIONAL -- Need OP }SystemInformationBlockType1-v9e0-IEs ::= SEQUENCE {freqBandIndicator-v9e0 FreqBandIndicator-v9e0 OPTIONAL, -- Cond FBI-maxmultiBandInfoList-v9e0 MultiBandInfoList-v9e0 OPTIONAL, -- Cond mFBI-max nonCriticalExtension SEQUENCE { } OPTIONAL -- Need OP } -- Regularnon critical extensions SystemInformationBlockType1-v920-IEs ::=SEQUENCE { ims-EmergencySupport-r9 ENUMERATED {true} OPTIONAL, -- NeedOR cellSelectionInfo-v920 CellSelectionInfo-v920 OPTIONAL, -- Cond RSRQnonCriticalExtension SystemInformationBlockType1-v1130-IEs OPTIONAL --Need OP } SystemInformationBlockType1-v1130-IEs ::= SEQUENCE {tdd-Config-v1130 TDD-Config-v1130 OPTIONAL, -- Cond TDD-ORcellSelectionInfo-v1130 CellSelectionInfo-v1130 OPTIONAL, -- CondWB-RSRQ nonCriticalExtension SEQUENCE { } OPTIONAL -- Need OP }PLMN-IdentityList ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxPLMN-r11)) OFPLMN-IdentityInfo PLMN-IdentityInfo ::= SEQUENCE { plmn-IdentityPLMN-Identity, cellReservedForOperatorUse ENUMERATED (reserved,notReserved} } SchedulingInfoList ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxSI-Message))OF SchedulingInfo SchedulingInfo ::= SEQUENCE { si-PeriodicityENUMERATED { rf8, rf16, rf32, rf64, rf128, rf256, rf512},sib-MappingInfo SIB-MappingInfo } SIB-MappingInfo ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE(0..maxSIB-1)) OF SIB-Type SIB-Type ::= ENUMERATED { sibType3, sibType4,sibType5, sibType6, sibType7, sibType8, sibType9, sibType10, sibType11,sibType12-v920, sibType13-v920, sibType14-v1130, sibType15-v1130,sibType16-v1130, sibType17-v12xy, sibType18-v12xy, ...}CellSelectionInfo-v920 ::= SEQUENCE { q-QualMin-r9 Q-QualMin-r9,q-QualMinOffset-r9 INTEGER (1..8) OPTIONAL -- Need OP }CellSelectionInfo-v1130 ::= SEQUENCE { q-QualMinWB-r11 Q-QualMin-r9 } --ASN1STOP

As can be seen, SIB-Type may include SIB-type 17 and 18, which may carrythe RAN assistance parameters as described above.

The field descriptions of SystemInformationBlockType1 may be inaccordance with 3GPP TS 36.331 v.12.1.0 (Mar. 19, 2014).

In some embodiments, the system information containing the RAN accessparameters may be referred to as “required” system information of whichthe UE 104, if in RRC_CONNECTED, should ensure having a valid version.

In some embodiments, the RAN access parameters may be provided indedicated signaling such as an RRCConnectionReconfiguration message. TheRRCConnectionReconfiguration message may be the command to modify an RRCconnection. It may convey information for measurement configuration,mobility control, radio resource configuration (including radio bearers,MAC Main configuration and physical channel configuration) including anyassociated dedicated NAS information security configuration. TheRRCConnectionReconfiguration message may be transmitted to the UE 104 onsignal radio bearer 1 (SRB1) in the downlink control channel (DCCH) andmay have an acknowledged mode (AM) RLC-SAP. In some embodiments, theRRCConnectionReconfiguration message may have an ASN as shown below.

--ASN1START RRCConnectionReconfiguration ::= SEQUENCE {rrc-TransactionIdentifier RRC-TransactionIdentifier, criticalExtensionsCHOICE { c1 CHOICE{ rrcConnectionReconfiguration-r8RRCConnectionReconfiguration-r8-IEs, spare7 NULL spare6 NULL, spare5NULL, spare4 NULL, spare3 NULL, spare2 NULL, spare1 NULL },criticalExtensionsFuture SEQUENCE { } } }RRConnectionReconfiguration-r8-IEs ::= SEQUENCE { measConfig MeasConfig OPTIONAL, --Need ON mobilityControlInfoMobilityControlInfo OPTIONAL, --Cond HO dedicatedInfoNASList SEQUENCE(SIZE(1...maxDRB)) OF DedicatedInfoNAS OPTIONAL, --Cond nonHOradioResourceConfigDedicated RadioResrouceConfigDedicated OPTIONAL, --Cond HO-toEUTRA securityConfigHO SecurityConfigHO OPTIONAL, -- Cond HOnonCriticalExtension RRCConnectionReconfiguration- v890-IEs OPTIONAL --Need OP } RRCConnectionReconfiguration-v890-IEs ::= SEQUENCE {lateNonCriticalExtension OCTET STRING OPTIONAL, -- Need OPnonCriticalExtension RRCConnectionReconfiguration- v920-IEs OPTIONAL --Need OP } RRCConnectionReconfiguration-v920-IEs ::= SEQUENCE {otherConfig-r9 otherConfig-r9 OPTIONAL, -- Need ON fullConfig-r9OPTIONAL, -- Cond HO-Reestab nonCriticalExtensionRRCConnectionReconfiguration v1020-IEs OPTIONAL -- Need OP }RRCConnectionReconfiguration-v1020-IEs ::= SEQUENCE {sCellToReleaseList-r10 SCellToReleaseList-r10 OPTIONAL, -- Need ONsCellToAddModList-r10 SCellToAddModList-r10 OPTIONAL, -- Need ONnonCriticalExtension RRCConnectionReconfiguration- V1130-IEs OPTIONAL --Need OP } RRCConnectionReconfiguration-v1130-IEs ::= SEQUENCE {systeminformationBlockType1Dedicated-r11 OCTET STRING (CONTAININGSystemInformationBlockType1) OPTIONAL, -- Need ON nonCriticalExtensionRRCConnectionReconfiguration- v12xy-IEs OPTIONAL -- Need OP }RRCConnectionReconfiguration-v12xy-IEs ::= SEQUENCE {wlanOffloadParamDedicated-r12 wlanOffloadParamDedicated-12 OPTIONAL,nonCriticalExtension SEQUENCE { } OPTIONAL -- Need OP }SCellToAddModList-r10 ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxSCell-r10)) OFSCellToAddMod-r10 SCellToAddMod-r10 ::= SEQUENCE { sCellIndex-r10SCellIndex-r10, cellIdentification-r10 SEQUENCE { physCellId-r10PhysCellId, dl-CarrierFreq-r10 ARFCN-ValueEUTRA } OPTIONAL, -- CondSCellAdd radioResourceConfigCommonSCell-r10 RadioResourceConfigCommonSCell- r10 OPTIONAL, -- Cond SCellAddradioResourceConfigDedicatedSCell-r10RadioResourceConfigDedicatedSCell-r10 OPTIONAL, -- Cond SCellAdd2 ...,[[ dl-CarrierFreq-v1090 ARFCN-ValueEUTRA-v9e0 OPTIONAL -- CondEARFCN-max ]] } SCellToReleaseList-r10 ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxSCell-r10)) OF SCellIndex-r10 SecurityConfigHO ::= SEQUENCE {handoverType CHOICE { intraLTE SEQUENCE { securityAlgorithmConfigSecurityAlgorithmConfig OPTIONAL, -- Cond fullConfig keyChangeIndicatorBOOLEAN, nextHopChainingCount NextHopChainingCount }, interRAT SEQUENCE{ SecurityAlgorithmConfig SecurityAlgorithmConfig,nas-SecurityParamToEUTRA OCTET STRING (SIZE(6)) } }, ... } -- ASN1STOP

The field descriptions of the RRCConnectionReconfiguration message aredescribed in Table 2a and the conditional terms are described in Table2b.

TABLE 2a RRCConnectionReconfiguration field descriptionsdedicatedInfoNASList This field is used to transfer UE specific NASlayer information between the network and the UE. The RRC layer istransparent for each PDU in the list. fullConfig Indicates the fullconfiguration option is applicable for the RRC ConnectionReconfiguration message. keyChangeIndicator true is used only in anintra-cell handover when a K_(eNB) key is derived from a K_(ASME) keytaken into use through the latest successful NAS SMC procedure, asdescribed in 3GPP TS 33.401 v.12.10.0 (Dec. 20, 2013) for K_(eNB)re-keying. false is used in an intra-LTE handover when the new K_(eNB)key is obtained from the current K_(eNB) key or from the NH as describedin TS 33.401. nas-securityParamToEUTRA This field is used to transfer UEspecific NAS layer information between the network and the UE. The RRClayer is transparent for this field, although it affects activation ofAS-security after inter-RAT handover to E-UTRA. The content is definedin TS 24.301, v12.4.0 (Mar. 17, 2014) nextHopChainingCount ParameterNCC: See TS 33.401.

TABLE 2b Conditional presence Explanation EARFCN-max The field ismandatory present if dl-CarrierFreq-r10 is included and set tomaxEARFCN. Otherwise the field is not present. fullConfig This field ismandatory present for handover within E-UTRA when the fullConfig isincluded; otherwise it is optionally present, Need OP. HO The field ismandatory present in case of handover within E-UTRA or to E-UTRA;otherwise the field is not present. HO-Reestab This field is optionallypresent, need ON, in case of handover within E-UTRA or upon the firstreconfiguration after RRC connection re-establishment; otherwise thefield is not present. HO-toEUTRA The field is mandatory present in caseof handover to E-UTRA or for reconfigurations when fullConfig isincluded; otherwise the field is optionally present, need ON. nonHO Thefield is not present in case of handover within E-UTRA or to E-UTRA;otherwise it is optional present, need ON. SCellAdd The field ismandatory present upon SCell addition; otherwise it is not present.SCellAdd2 The field is mandatory present upon SCell addition; otherwiseit is optionally present, need ON.

The WlanOffloadParamDedicated information element of theRRCConnectionReconfiguration message may contain information relevantfor traffic steering between EUTRAN and WLAN. TheWlanOffloadParamDedicated may have an ANS format as indicated below inaccordance with some embodiments.

-- ASN1START WlanOffloadParamDedicated-r12 ::=SEQUENCE {wlanOffload-Param-r12 WlanOffload-Param-r12 OPTIONAL, -- Need ONwlanIdentifiersList-r12 WlanIdentifiersList-r12 OPTIONAL, -- Need ONt3350 ENUMERATED { FFS} OPTIONAL, -- Need OR ... } -- ASN1STOP

t350 may be a validity time for RAN assistance parameters. The UE 104may start a validity timer, T350, upon the UE 104 entering RRC_IDLE withthe validity time t350 received for RAN assistance parameters. If the UE104 engages in cell reselection or handover, it may stop the validitytimer. If the validity timer expires, the UE 104 may discard the RANassistance parameters provided by dedicated signaling.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart depicting a traffic steering operation 200 of auser equipment, for example, UE 104, in accordance with someembodiments. In some embodiments, the UE 104 may include circuitry toperform the traffic-steering operation 200. For example, the UE 104 mayinclude one or more non-transitory computer-readable media havinginstructions that, when executed, cause the UE to perform thetraffic-steering operation 200. Dedicated circuitry mayadditionally/alternatively be used to perform one or more aspects of thetraffic-steering operation 200.

The traffic steering operation 200 may include, at 204, the UE 104determining RAN assistance parameters. In some embodiments, the UE 104may determine the RAN assistance parameters by processing messagesreceived from the configuration circuitry 156, which may be in thenetwork controller 148 or the eNB 116. In embodiments in which theconfiguration circuitry 156 is located in the network controller 148,the RAN assistance parameters may be provided to the UE 104 through theeNB 116. The RAN assistance parameters may be provided to the UE 104from the eNB 116 through dedicated or broadcast signaling.

The traffic steering operation may include, at 208, the UE 104determining whether conditions of the access networks (ANs), forexample, the EUTRAN and the WLAN, satisfy ANSTS rules for apredetermined period of time. The determination at 208 may be based onthe RAN assistance parameters received at 204. The UE 104 may set atimer with a value, for example, TSteeringWLAN, and may monitor theconditions until expiration of the timer.

The conditions of the ANs may be determined by direct measurement, fromreports from nodes of the ANs, for example, AP 124 or eNB 116, or acombination of the two.

If, at 208, the UE determines the ANs satisfy the predeterminedconditions for the predetermined period of time, the UE may steertraffic to the appropriate access network at 212. In some embodiments,the access stratum of the control circuitry 108 may monitor theconditions and notify a non-access stratum of the control circuitry 108of the satisfaction of the conditions. At such time, the non-accessstratum may initiate transfer of traffic, for example, all EPS bearersof a particular APN, to the targeted access node.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart depicting a configuration operation 300 of networknode, for example, eNB 116 or network controller 148, in accordance withsome embodiments. In some embodiments, the network node may includecircuitry to perform the configuration operation 300. For example, thenetwork node may include one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia having instructions that, when executed, cause the network node toperform the configuration operation 300. Dedicated circuitry mayadditionally/alternatively be used to perform one or more aspects of theconfiguration operation 300. In some embodiments, some of the aspects ofthe configuration operation 300 may be performed by a first networknode, for example, network controller 148, while other aspects of theconfiguration operation 300 may be performed by a second network node,for example, eNB 116.

The configuration operation 300 may include, at 304, the network nodedetermining RAN access parameters. In some embodiments, the network nodemay be preconfigured with at least some of the RAN access parameters(WLAN identifiers) or receive them in reports from other nodes. In someembodiments, the network node may calculate at least some of the RANaccess parameters. For example, the network node may calculate variousthresholds based on its load.

The configuration operation 300 may include, at 308, transmitting systeminformation (SI) messages that include the RAN access parameters. The SImessages may include SystemInformationBlockType1SystemInformationBlockType17, or SystemInformationBlockType18 messagesas discussed above. In some embodiments, the SI messages may betransmitted (periodically, event-driven, or otherwise) as broadcastsignaling.

The configuration operation 300 may include, at 312, the network nodedetermining whether dedicated signaling is needed. Dedicated signalingmay be used if the network node determines specific or updated RANaccess parameters should be provided to a particular UE.

If, at 312, it is determined that dedicated signaling is not needed, theconfiguration operation 300 may loop back to the transmission of the SImessages.

If, at 312, it is determined that dedicated signaling is needed, theconfiguration operation 300 may advance to 316 with the network nodetransmitting an RRC message that includes any specific or updated RANaccess parameters to the UE.

Following 316, the configuration operation 300 may loop back to thetransmission of the SI messages at 308.

The UE 104, eNB 116, or network controller 148 as described herein maybe implemented into a system using any suitable hardware, firmware, orsoftware configured as desired. FIG. 4 illustrates, for one embodiment,an example system 400 comprising radio frequency (RF) circuitry 404,baseband circuitry 408, application circuitry 412, memory/storage 416,display 420, camera 424, sensor 428, input/output (I/O) interface 432,or network interface 436 coupled with each other as shown.

The application circuitry 412 may include circuitry such as, but notlimited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. Theprocessor(s) may include any combination of general-purpose processorsand dedicated processors (e.g., graphics processors, applicationprocessors, etc.). The processors may be coupled with memory/storage 416and configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage 416to enable various applications or operating systems running on thesystem 400.

The baseband circuitry 408 may include circuitry such as, but notlimited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors such as,for example, a baseband processor. The baseband circuitry 408 may handlevarious radio control functions that enable communication with one ormore radio access networks via the RF circuitry 404. The radio controlfunctions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation,encoding, decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments,the baseband circuitry 408 may provide for communication compatible withone or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, thebaseband circuitry 408 may support communication with an EUTRAN or otherwireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), a wireless local areanetwork (WLAN), or a wireless personal area network (WPAN). Embodimentsin which the baseband circuitry 408 is configured to support radiocommunications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to asmulti-mode baseband circuitry.

In various embodiments, baseband circuitry 408 may include circuitry tooperate with signals that are not strictly considered as being in abaseband frequency. For example, in some embodiments, baseband circuitry408 may include circuitry to operate with signals having an intermediatefrequency, which is between a baseband frequency and a radio frequency.

In some embodiments, the control circuitry 108 or 140, or theconfiguration circuitry 156 may be embodied in the application circuitry412 or the baseband circuitry 408.

RF circuitry 404 may enable communication with wireless networks usingmodulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. Invarious embodiments, the RF circuitry 404 may include switches, filters,amplifiers, etc., to facilitate the communication with the wirelessnetwork.

In various embodiments, RF circuitry 404 may include circuitry tooperate with signals that are not strictly considered as being in aradio frequency. For example, in some embodiments, RF circuitry 404 mayinclude circuitry to operate with signals having an intermediatefrequency, which is between a baseband frequency and a radio frequency.

In some embodiments, the EUTRAN radio 112, the WLAN radio 120, or thewireless transceiver 136 may be embodied in the RF circuitry 404.

In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of thebaseband circuitry 408, the application circuitry 412, or thememory/storage 416 may be implemented together on a system on a chip(SOC).

Memory/storage 416 may be used to load and store data or instructions,for example, for system 400. Memory/storage 416 for one embodiment mayinclude any combination of suitable volatile memory (e.g., dynamicrandom access memory (DRAM)) or non-volatile memory (e.g., Flashmemory).

In various embodiments, the I/O interface 432 may include one or moreuser interfaces designed to enable user interaction with the system 400or peripheral component interfaces designed to enable peripheralcomponent interaction with the system 400. User interfaces may include,but are not limited to, a physical keyboard or keypad, a touchpad, aspeaker, a microphone, etc. Peripheral component interfaces may include,but are not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a universal serialbus (USB) port, an audio jack, and a power supply interface.

In various embodiments, sensor 428 may include one or more sensingdevices to determine environmental conditions or location informationrelated to the system 400. In some embodiments, the sensors may include,but are not limited to, a gyro sensor, an accelerometer, a proximitysensor, an ambient light sensor, and a positioning unit. The positioningunit may also be part of, or interact with, the baseband circuitry 408or RF circuitry 404 to communicate with components of a positioningnetwork, e.g., a global positioning system (GPS) satellite.

In various embodiments, the display 420 may include a display (e.g., aliquid crystal display, a touch screen display, etc.).

In various embodiments, the network interface 436 may include circuitryto communicate over one or more wired networks. The transceiver 144 or152 may be embodied in the network interface 436.

In various embodiments, the system 400 may be a mobile computing devicesuch as, but not limited to, a laptop computing device, a tabletcomputing device, a netbook, an ultrabook, a smartphone, etc.; or anetwork node, e.g., an eNB or network controller. In variousembodiments, system 400 may have more or fewer components, or differentarchitectures.

The following paragraphs describe examples of various embodiments.

Example 1 includes a user equipment (UE) comprising: a first radio tocommunicate via an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network(EUTRAN); a second radio to communicate via a wireless local areanetwork (WLAN); and control circuitry coupled with the first and secondradios, the control circuitry to receive, in a broadcast systeminformation block or a radio resource control (RRC) connectionreconfiguration message dedicated to the UE, radio access network (RAN)assistance parameters for access network selection and traffic steeringbetween the EUTRAN and the WLAN; and steer traffic through the firstradio or the second radio based on the RAN assistance parameters.

Example 2 includes the UE of example 1, wherein the RAN assistanceparameters are first RAN assistance parameters in the RRC connectionreconfiguration message, and the control circuitry is further to:receive second RAN assistance parameters in the system informationblock; discard the second RAN assistance parameters; and

save the first RAN assistance parameters.

Example 3 includes the UE of any of examples 1-2, wherein the controlcircuitry is to receive the RAN assistance parameters in an informationelement in the RRC connection reconfiguration message.

Example 4 includes the UE of example 3, wherein the RAN assistanceparameters include a timer value and the control circuitry is to: set atimer with the timer value; start the timer upon entering an RRC idlemode; and discard the RAN assistance parameters received in RRCconnection reconfiguration message upon expiration of the timer.

Example 5 includes the UE of any of examples 1-4, wherein the RANassistance parameters include a WLAN identifier that corresponds to theWLAN, a reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold value, and areference signal received quality (RSRQ) threshold value, and thecontrol circuitry is further to: transmit traffic over the EUTRAN viathe first radio; determine that a measured cell receive level value ofthe EUTRAN is less than the RSRP threshold or a measured cell qualityvalue of the EUTRAN is less than the RSRQ threshold; and steer trafficto the WLAN via the second radio based on said determination that themeasured RSRP of the EUTRAN is less than the RSRP threshold or themeasured RSRQ of the EUTRAN is less than the RSRQ threshold.

Example 6 includes the UE of example 5, wherein the RAN assistanceparameters further include a WLAN channel utilization threshold, a WLANdownlink backhaul rate threshold, a WLAN uplink backhaul rate threshold,and a WLAN beacon received signal strength indicator (RSSI) threshold,and the control circuitry is further to: determine that a WLAN channelutilization is less than the WLAN channel utilization threshold, a WLANdownlink backhaul rate is greater than the WLAN downlink backhaul ratethreshold, a WLAN uplink backhaul rate is greater than the WLAN uplinkbackhaul rate threshold, and a beacon RSSI is greater than the WLANbeacon RSSI threshold; and steer traffic to the WLAN via the secondradio based further on said determination that the WLAN channelutilization is less than the WLAN channel utilization threshold, theWLAN downlink backhaul rate is greater than the WLAN downlink backhaulrate threshold, the WLAN uplink backhaul rate is greater than the WLANuplink backhaul rate threshold, and the beacon RSSI is greater than theWLAN beacon RSSI threshold.

Example 7 includes the UE of any of examples 1-6, wherein the RANassistance parameters include a WLAN channel utilization threshold, aWLAN downlink backhaul rate threshold, a WLAN uplink backhaul ratethreshold, a WLAN beacon received signal strength indicator (RSSI)threshold, and a WLAN beacon received signal strength indicator (RSSI)threshold; and the controller is further to: transmit traffic over theWLAN via the second radio; determine a WLAN channel utilization isgreater than the WLAN channel utilization threshold, a WLAN downlinkbackhaul rate is less than the WLAN downlink backhaul rate threshold, aWLAN uplink backhaul rate is less than the WLAN uplink backhaul ratethreshold, or a beacon RSSI is less than the WLAN beacon RSSI threshold;and steer traffic to the EUTRAN via the first radio based on saiddetermination that the WLAN channel utilization is greater than the WLANchannel utilization threshold, the WLAN downlink backhaul rate is lessthan the WLAN downlink backhaul rate threshold, the WLAN uplink backhaulrate is less than the WLAN uplink backhaul rate threshold, or the beaconRSSI is less than the WLAN beacon RSSI threshold.

Example 8 includes the UE of example 7, wherein the RAN assistanceparameters further include a reference signal received power (RSRP)threshold value and a reference signal received quality (RSRQ) thresholdvalue, and the control circuitry is further to: determine a measuredcell receive level value of the EUTRAN is greater than the RSRPthreshold and a measured cell quality value of the EUTRAN is greaterthan the RSRQ threshold; and steer traffic to the EUTRAN via the firstradio based on said determination that the measured cell receive levelvalue corresponding to the EUTRAN is greater than the RSRP threshold andthe measured cell quality value corresponding to the EUTRAN is greaterthan the RSRQ threshold.

Example 9 includes the UE of any of examples 1-8, further comprising:multi-mode baseband circuitry coupled with the first and second radios.

Example 10 includes enhanced node B (eNB) circuitry comprising: controlcircuitry to determine a set of RAN assistance parameters for each of aplurality of public land mobile networks (PLMNs) served by the eNB,wherein individual sets of the RAN assistance parameters include firstevolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) thresholdsfor steering traffic from an EUTRAN to a wireless local area network(WLAN), second EUTRAN thresholds for steering traffic from a WLAN to anEUTRAN, first WLAN thresholds for steering traffic from an EUTRAN to aWLAN, and second WLAN thresholds for steering traffic from a WLAN to anEUTRAN; and to generate dedicated or broadcast signaling messages thatinclude the RAN assistance parameters for each of the plurality ofPLMNs; and a wireless transceiver to transmit the dedicated or broadcastsignaling messages to one or more user equipments (UEs) in the EUTRANcell.

In some embodiments, the eNB circuitry of example 10 may further includea transceiver to receive a first RAN assistance parameter of the set ofRAN assistance parameters from a network node, wherein the first RANassistance parameter is a WLAN identifier.

Example 11 includes the eNB circuitry of example 10, wherein the controlcircuitry is to generate system information blocks that include the RANassistance parameters and the wireless transceiver is to transmit thesystem information blocks.

Example 12 includes the eNB circuitry of example 10, wherein the controlcircuitry is to generate a radio resource control (RRC) connectionreconfiguration message that includes the RAN assistance parameters, andthe wireless transceiver is to transmit the RRC connectionreconfiguration messages.

Example 13 includes the eNB circuitry of any of examples 10-12, whereinthe first EUTRAN thresholds include a first reference signal receivedpower (RSRP) threshold or a first reference signal received quality(RSRQ) threshold, and the second EUTRAN thresholds include a second RSRQthreshold or a second RSRQ threshold.

Example 14 includes the eNB circuitry of any of examples 10-13, whereinthe first WLAN thresholds include a first channel utilization threshold,a first WLAN downlink backhaul rate threshold, a first WLAN uplinkbackhaul rate, or a first WLAN beacon received signal strength indicator(RSSI) and the second WLAN thresholds include a second channelutilization threshold, a second WLAN downlink backhaul rate threshold, asecond WLAN uplink backhaul rate, or a second WLAN beacon receivedsignal strength indicator (RSSI).

Example 15 includes one or more non-transitory computer-readable mediahaving instructions that, when executed, cause a user equipment (UE) to:process a system information message or a radio resource control (RRC)message to determine radio access network (RAN) assistance parameters;determine conditions of first and second access networks; determine thatthe conditions of the first and second access networks satisfy accessnetwork selection and traffic steering (ANSTS) rules for a predeterminedperiod of time based on the RAN assistance parameters; and steer trafficfrom the first access network to the second access network based on saiddetermination that the conditions of the first and second accessnetworks satisfy the ANSTS for the predetermined period of time.

Example 16 includes the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of example 15, wherein the RAN assistance parameters include firstevolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) thresholdsfor steering traffic from an EUTRAN to a wireless local area network(WLAN), second EUTRAN thresholds for steering traffic from a WLAN to anEUTRAN, first WLAN thresholds for steering traffic from an EUTRAN to aWLAN, and second WLAN thresholds for steering traffic from a WLAN to anEUTRAN.

Example 17 includes the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of any of examples 15-16, wherein the first access network is anevolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN), the secondaccess network is a wireless local area network (WLAN), the RANassistance parameters include a WLAN identifier that corresponds to theWLAN, a reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold value, and areference signal received quality (RSRQ) threshold value, and theinstructions, when executed, further cause the UE to: determine that ameasured cell receive level value of the EUTRAN is less than the RSRPthreshold or a measured cell quality value of the EUTRAN is less thanthe RSRQ threshold; and steer traffic to the WLAN based on saiddetermination that the measured RSRP of the EUTRAN is less than the RSRPthreshold or the measured RSRQ of the EUTRAN is less than the RSRQthreshold.

Example 18 includes the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of example 17, wherein the RAN assistance parameters furtherinclude a WLAN channel utilization threshold, a WLAN downlink backhaulrate threshold, a WLAN uplink backhaul rate threshold, and a WLAN beaconreceived signal strength indicator (RSSI) threshold, and theinstructions, when executed, further cause the UE to: determine that aWLAN channel utilization is less than the WLAN channel utilizationthreshold, a WLAN downlink backhaul rate is greater than the WLANdownlink backhaul rate threshold, a WLAN uplink backhaul rate is greaterthan the WLAN uplink backhaul rate threshold, and a beacon RSSI isgreater than the WLAN beacon RSSI threshold; and steer traffic to theWLAN based further on said determination that the WLAN channelutilization is less than the WLAN channel utilization threshold, theWLAN downlink backhaul rate is greater than the WLAN downlink backhaulrate threshold, the WLAN uplink backhaul rate is greater than the WLANuplink backhaul rate threshold, and the beacon RSSI is greater than theWLAN beacon RSSI threshold.

Example 19 includes the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of any of examples 15-18, wherein the first access network is awireless local area network (WLAN), the second access network is anevolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN), the RANassistance parameters include a WLAN channel utilization threshold, aWLAN downlink backhaul rate threshold, a WLAN uplink backhaul ratethreshold, a WLAN beacon received signal strength indicator (RSSI)threshold, and a WLAN beacon received signal strength indicator (RSSI)threshold; and the instructions, when executed, further cause the UE to:determine a WLAN channel utilization is greater than the WLAN channelutilization threshold, a WLAN downlink backhaul rate is less than theWLAN downlink backhaul rate threshold, a WLAN uplink backhaul rate isless than the WLAN uplink backhaul rate threshold, or a beacon RSSI isless than the WLAN beacon RSSI threshold; and steer traffic to theEUTRAN based on said determination that the WLAN channel utilization isgreater than the WLAN channel utilization threshold, the WLAN downlinkbackhaul rate is less than the WLAN downlink backhaul rate threshold,the WLAN uplink backhaul rate is less than the WLAN uplink backhaul ratethreshold, or the beacon RSSI is less than the WLAN beacon RSSIthreshold.

Example 20 includes the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of example 19, wherein the RAN assistance parameters furtherinclude a reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold value and areference signal received quality (RSRQ) threshold value, and theinstructions, when executed, further cause the UE to: determine ameasured cell receive level value of the EUTRAN is greater than the RSRPthreshold and a measured cell quality value of the EUTRAN is greaterthan the RSRQ threshold; and steer traffic to the EUTRAN based on saiddetermination that the measured cell receive level value correspondingto the EUTRAN is greater than the RSRP threshold and the measured cellquality value corresponding to the EUTRAN is greater than the RSRQthreshold.

Example 21 includes a user equipment (UE) comprising: means forprocessing a system information message or a radio resource control(RRC) message to determine radio access network (RAN) assistanceparameters; means for determining conditions of first and second accessnetworks; means for determining that the conditions of the first andsecond access networks satisfy access network selection and trafficsteering (ANSTS) rules for a predetermined period of time based on theRAN assistance parameters; and means for steering traffic from the firstaccess network to the second access network based on said determinationthat the conditions of the first and second access networks satisfy theANSTS for the predetermined period of time.

Example 22 includes the UE of example 21, wherein the RAN assistanceparameters include first evolved universal terrestrial radio accessnetwork (EUTRAN) thresholds for steering traffic from an EUTRAN to awireless local area network (WLAN), second EUTRAN thresholds forsteering traffic from a WLAN to an EUTRAN, first WLAN thresholds forsteering traffic from an EUTRAN to a WLAN, and second WLAN thresholdsfor steering traffic from a WLAN to an EUTRAN.

Example 23 includes the UE of any of examples 21-22, wherein the firstaccess network is an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network(EUTRAN), the second access network is a wireless local area network(WLAN), the RAN assistance parameters include a WLAN identifier thatcorresponds to the WLAN, a reference signal received power (RSRP)threshold value, and a reference signal received quality (RSRQ)threshold value, and the UE further comprises: means for determiningthat a measured cell receive level value of the EUTRAN is less than theRSRP threshold or a measured cell quality value of the EUTRAN is lessthan the RSRQ threshold; and means for steering traffic to the WLANbased on said determination that the measured RSRP of the EUTRAN is lessthan the RSRP threshold or the measured RSRQ of the EUTRAN is less thanthe RSRQ threshold.

Example 24 includes the UE of example 23, wherein the RAN assistanceparameters further include a WLAN channel utilization threshold, a WLANdownlink backhaul rate threshold, a WLAN uplink backhaul rate threshold,and a WLAN beacon received signal strength indicator (RSSI) threshold,and the UE further comprises: means for determining that a WLAN channelutilization is less than the WLAN channel utilization threshold, a WLANdownlink backhaul rate is greater than the WLAN downlink backhaul ratethreshold, a WLAN uplink backhaul rate is greater than the WLAN uplinkbackhaul rate threshold, and a beacon RSSI is greater than the WLANbeacon RSSI threshold; and means for steering traffic to the WLAN basedfurther on said determination that the WLAN channel utilization is lessthan the WLAN channel utilization threshold, the WLAN downlink backhaulrate is greater than the WLAN downlink backhaul rate threshold, the WLANuplink backhaul rate is greater than the WLAN uplink backhaul ratethreshold, and the beacon RSSI is greater than the WLAN beacon RSSIthreshold.

Example 25 includes the UE of any of examples 21-24, wherein the firstaccess network is a wireless local area network (WLAN), the secondaccess network is an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network(EUTRAN), the RAN assistance parameters include a WLAN channelutilization threshold, a WLAN downlink backhaul rate threshold, a WLANuplink backhaul rate threshold, a WLAN beacon received signal strengthindicator (RSSI) threshold, and a WLAN beacon received signal strengthindicator (RSSI) threshold; and the UE further comprises: means fordetermining a WLAN channel utilization is greater than the WLAN channelutilization threshold, a WLAN downlink backhaul rate is less than theWLAN downlink backhaul rate threshold, a WLAN uplink backhaul rate isless than the WLAN uplink backhaul rate threshold, or a beacon RSSI isless than the WLAN beacon RSSI threshold; and means for steering trafficto the EUTRAN based on said determination that the WLAN channelutilization is greater than the WLAN channel utilization threshold, theWLAN downlink backhaul rate is less than the WLAN downlink backhaul ratethreshold, the WLAN uplink backhaul rate is less than the WLAN uplinkbackhaul rate threshold, or the beacon RSSI is less than the WLAN beaconRSSI threshold.

Example 26 includes the UE of example 25, wherein the RAN assistanceparameters further include a reference signal received power (RSRP)threshold value and a reference signal received quality (RSRQ) thresholdvalue, and the UE further comprises: means for determining a measuredcell receive level value of the EUTRAN is greater than the RSRPthreshold and a measured cell quality value of the EUTRAN is greaterthan the RSRQ threshold; and means for steering traffic to the EUTRANbased on said determination that the measured cell receive level valuecorresponding to the EUTRAN is greater than the RSRP threshold and themeasured cell quality value corresponding to the EUTRAN is greater thanthe RSRQ threshold.

Example 27 includes a method of operating an enhanced node B (eNB)comprising: receiving a set of RAN assistance parameters for each of aplurality of public land mobile networks (PLMNs) served by the eNB,wherein individual sets of the RAN assistance parameters include firstevolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) thresholdsfor steering traffic from an EUTRAN to a wireless local area network(WLAN), second EUTRAN thresholds for steering traffic from a WLAN to anEUTRAN, first WLAN thresholds for steering traffic from an EUTRAN to aWLAN, and second WLAN thresholds for steering traffic from a WLAN to anEUTRAN; generating dedicated or broadcast signaling messages thatinclude the RAN assistance parameters for each of the plurality ofPLMNs; and transmitting the dedicated or broadcast signaling messages toone or more user equipments (UEs) in the EUTRAN cell.

Example 28 includes the method of example 27, wherein said generatingcomprises generating system information blocks that include the RANassistance parameters and said transmitting comprises transmitting thesystem information blocks.

Example 29 includes the method of example 27, wherein said generatingcomprises generating a radio resource control (RRC) connectionreconfiguration message that includes the RAN assistance parameters, andthe wireless transceiver is to transmit the RRC connectionreconfiguration messages.

Example 30 includes the method of any of examples 27-29, wherein thefirst EUTRAN thresholds include a first reference signal received power(RSRP) threshold or a first reference signal received quality (RSRQ)threshold, and the second EUTRAN thresholds include a second RSRQthreshold or a second RSRQ threshold.

Example 31 includes the method of any of examples 27-30, wherein thefirst WLAN thresholds include a first channel utilization threshold, afirst WLAN downlink backhaul rate threshold, a first WLAN uplinkbackhaul rate, or a first WLAN beacon received signal strength indicator(RSSI) and the second WLAN thresholds include a second channelutilization threshold, a second WLAN downlink backhaul rate threshold, asecond WLAN uplink backhaul rate, or a second WLAN beacon receivedsignal strength indicator (RSSI).

Example 32 includes an apparatus to perform the method of any ofexamples 27-31.

Example 33 includes one or more non-transitory, computer-readable mediahaving instructions that, when executed, cause an eNB to perform themethod of any of claims 27-31.

The description herein of illustrated implementations, including what isdescribed in the Abstract, is not intended to be exhaustive or to limitthe present disclosure to the precise forms disclosed. While specificimplementations and examples are described herein for illustrativepurposes, various equivalent modifications are possible within the scopeof the disclosure, as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize.These modifications may be made to the disclosure in light of the abovedetailed description.

What is claimed is:
 1. A user equipment (UE) comprising: a first radioto communicate via an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network(EUTRAN); a second radio to communicate via a wireless local areanetwork (WLAN); and control circuitry coupled with the first and secondradios, the control circuitry to receive, in a broadcast systeminformation block or a radio resource control (RRC) connectionreconfiguration message dedicated to the UE, radio access network (RAN)assistance parameters for access network selection and traffic steeringbetween the EUTRAN and the WLAN, wherein the RAN assistance parametersinclude a WLAN identifier that corresponds to the WLAN, a referencesignal received power (RSRP) threshold value, and a reference signalreceived quality (RSRQ) threshold value; transmit traffic over theEUTRAN via the first radio; determine that a measured cell receive levelvalue of the EUTRAN is less than the RSRP threshold or a measured cellquality value of the EUTRAN is less than the RSRQ threshold; and steertraffic to the WLAN via the second radio based on said determinationthat the measured RSRP of the EUTRAN is less than the RSRP threshold orthe measured RSRQ of the EUTRAN is less than the RSRQ threshold.
 2. TheUE of claim 1, wherein the RAN assistance parameters are first RANassistance parameters in the RRC connection reconfiguration message, andthe control circuitry is further to: receive second RAN assistanceparameters in the system information block; discard the second RANassistance parameters; and save the first RAN assistance parameters. 3.The UE of claim 1, wherein the control circuitry is to receive the RANassistance parameters in an information element in the RRC connectionreconfiguration message.
 4. The UE of claim 3, wherein the RANassistance parameters include a timer value and the control circuitry isto: set a timer with the timer value; start the timer upon entering anRRC idle mode; and discard the RAN assistance parameters received in RRCconnection reconfiguration message upon expiration of the timer.
 5. TheUE of claim 1, wherein the RAN assistance parameters further include aWLAN channel utilization threshold, a WLAN downlink backhaul ratethreshold, a WLAN uplink backhaul rate threshold, and a WLAN beaconreceived signal strength indicator (RSSI) threshold, and the controlcircuitry is further to: determine that a WLAN channel utilization isless than the WLAN channel utilization threshold, a WLAN downlinkbackhaul rate is greater than the WLAN downlink backhaul rate threshold,a WLAN uplink backhaul rate is greater than the WLAN uplink backhaulrate threshold, and a beacon RSSI is greater than the WLAN beacon RSSIthreshold; and steer traffic to the WLAN via the second radio basedfurther on said determination that the WLAN channel utilization is lessthan the WLAN channel utilization threshold, the WLAN downlink backhaulrate is greater than the WLAN downlink backhaul rate threshold, the WLANuplink backhaul rate is greater than the WLAN uplink backhaul ratethreshold, and the beacon RSSI is greater than the WLAN beacon RSSIthreshold.
 6. A user equipment (UE) comprising: a first radio tocommunicate via an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network(EUTRAN); a second radio to communicate via a wireless local areanetwork (WLAN); and control circuitry coupled with the first and secondradios, the control circuitry to receive, in a broadcast systeminformation block or a radio resource control (RRC) connectionreconfiguration message dedicated to the UE, radio access network (RAN)assistance parameters for access network selection and traffic steeringbetween the EUTRAN and the WLAN, wherein the RAN assistance parametersinclude a WLAN channel utilization threshold, a WLAN downlink backhaulrate threshold, a WLAN uplink backhaul rate threshold, a WLAN beaconreceived signal strength indicator (RSSI) threshold, and a WLAN beaconreceived signal strength indicator (RSSI) threshold; transmit trafficover the WLAN via the second radio; determine a WLAN channel utilizationis greater than the WLAN channel utilization threshold, a WLAN downlinkbackhaul rate is less than the WLAN downlink backhaul rate threshold, aWLAN uplink backhaul rate is less than the WLAN uplink backhaul ratethreshold, or a beacon RSSI is less than the WLAN beacon RSSI threshold;and steer traffic to the EUTRAN via the first radio based on saiddetermination that the WLAN channel utilization is greater than the WLANchannel utilization threshold, the WLAN downlink backhaul rate is lessthan the WLAN downlink backhaul rate threshold, the WLAN uplink backhaulrate is less than the WLAN uplink backhaul rate threshold, or the beaconRSSI is less than the WLAN beacon RSSI threshold.
 7. The UE of claim 6,wherein the RAN assistance parameters further include a reference signalreceived power (RSRP) threshold value and a reference signal receivedquality (RSRQ) threshold value, and the control circuitry is further to:determine a measured cell receive level value of the EUTRAN is greaterthan the RSRP threshold and a measured cell quality value of the EUTRANis greater than the RSRQ threshold; and steer traffic to the EUTRAN viathe first radio based on said determination that the measured cellreceive level value corresponding to the EUTRAN is greater than the RSRPthreshold and the measured cell quality value corresponding to theEUTRAN is greater than the RSRQ threshold.
 8. The UE of claim 6, furthercomprising: multi-mode baseband circuitry coupled with the first andsecond radios.
 9. Enhanced node B (eNB) circuitry comprising: controlcircuitry to determine a set of RAN assistance parameters for each of aplurality of public land mobile networks (PLMNs) served by the eNB,wherein individual sets of the RAN assistance parameters include firstevolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) thresholdsfor steering traffic from an EUTRAN to a wireless local area network(WLAN), second EUTRAN thresholds for steering traffic from a WLAN to anEUTRAN, first WLAN thresholds for steering traffic from an EUTRAN to aWLAN, and second WLAN thresholds for steering traffic from a WLAN to anEUTRAN; and to generate dedicated or broadcast signaling messages thatinclude the RAN assistance parameters for each of the plurality ofPLMNs; and a wireless transceiver to transmit the dedicated or broadcastsignaling messages to one or more user equipments (UEs) in the EUTRANcell.
 10. The eNB circuitry of claim 9, further comprising: atransceiver to receive a first RAN assistance parameter of the set ofran assistance parameters from a network node, wherein the first RANassistance parameter is a WLAN identifier.
 11. The eNB circuitry ofclaim 9, wherein the control circuitry is to generate system informationblocks that include the RAN assistance parameters and the wirelesstransceiver is to transmit the system information blocks.
 12. The eNBcircuitry of claim 9, wherein the control circuitry is to generate aradio resource control (RRC) connection reconfiguration message thatincludes the RAN assistance parameters, and the wireless transceiver isto transmit the RRC connection reconfiguration messages.
 13. The eNBcircuitry of claim 9, wherein the first EUTRAN thresholds include afirst reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold or a firstreference signal received quality (RSRQ) threshold, and the secondEUTRAN thresholds include a second RSRQ threshold or a second RSRQthreshold.
 14. The eNB circuitry of claim 9, wherein the first WLANthresholds include a first channel utilization threshold, a first WLANdownlink backhaul rate threshold, a first WLAN uplink backhaul rate, ora first WLAN beacon received signal strength indicator (RSSI) and thesecond WLAN thresholds include a second channel utilization threshold, asecond WLAN downlink backhaul rate threshold, a second WLAN uplinkbackhaul rate, or a second WLAN beacon received signal strengthindicator (RSSI).
 15. One or more non-transitory computer-readable mediahaving instructions that, when executed, cause a user equipment (UE) to:process a system information message or a radio resource control (RRC)message to determine radio access network (RAN) assistance parameters;determine conditions of first and second access networks; determine thatthe conditions of the first and second access networks satisfy accessnetwork selection and traffic steering (ANSTS) rules for a predeterminedperiod of time based on the RAN assistance parameters; and steer trafficfrom the first access network to the second access network based on saiddetermination that the conditions of the first and second accessnetworks satisfy the ANSTS for the predetermined period of time.
 16. Theone or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15, whereinthe RAN assistance parameters include first evolved universalterrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) thresholds for steeringtraffic from an EUTRAN to a wireless local area network (WLAN), secondEUTRAN thresholds for steering traffic from a WLAN to an EUTRAN, firstWLAN thresholds for steering traffic from an EUTRAN to a WLAN, andsecond WLAN thresholds for steering traffic from a WLAN to an EUTRAN.17. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15,wherein the first access network is an evolved universal terrestrialradio access network (EUTRAN), the second access network is a wirelesslocal area network (WLAN), the RAN assistance parameters include a WLANidentifier that corresponds to the WLAN, a reference signal receivedpower (RSRP) threshold value, and a reference signal received quality(RSRQ) threshold value, and the instructions, when executed, furthercause the UE to: determine that a measured cell receive level value ofthe EUTRAN is less than the RSRP threshold or a measured cell qualityvalue of the EUTRAN is less than the RSRQ threshold; and steer trafficto the WLAN based on said determination that the measured RSRP of theEUTRAN is less than the RSRP threshold or the measured RSRQ of theEUTRAN is less than the RSRQ threshold.
 18. The one or morenon-transitory computer-readable media of claim 17, wherein the RANassistance parameters further include a WLAN channel utilizationthreshold, a WLAN downlink backhaul rate threshold, a WLAN uplinkbackhaul rate threshold, and a WLAN beacon received signal strengthindicator (RSSI) threshold, and the instructions, when executed, furthercause the UE to: determine that a WLAN channel utilization is less thanthe WLAN channel utilization threshold, a WLAN downlink backhaul rate isgreater than the WLAN downlink backhaul rate threshold, a WLAN uplinkbackhaul rate is greater than the WLAN uplink backhaul rate threshold,and a beacon RSSI is greater than the WLAN beacon RSSI threshold; andsteer traffic to the WLAN based further on said determination that theWLAN channel utilization is less than the WLAN channel utilizationthreshold, the WLAN downlink backhaul rate is greater than the WLANdownlink backhaul rate threshold, the WLAN uplink backhaul rate isgreater than the WLAN uplink backhaul rate threshold, and the beaconRSSI is greater than the WLAN beacon RSSI threshold.
 19. The one or morenon-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15, wherein the firstaccess network is a wireless local area network (WLAN), the secondaccess network is an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network(EUTRAN), the RAN assistance parameters include a WLAN channelutilization threshold, a WLAN downlink backhaul rate threshold, a WLANuplink backhaul rate threshold, a WLAN beacon received signal strengthindicator (RSSI) threshold, and a WLAN beacon received signal strengthindicator (RSSI) threshold; and the instructions, when executed, furthercause the UE to: determine a WLAN channel utilization is greater thanthe WLAN channel utilization threshold, a WLAN downlink backhaul rate isless than the WLAN downlink backhaul rate threshold, a WLAN uplinkbackhaul rate is less than the WLAN uplink backhaul rate threshold, or abeacon RSSI is less than the WLAN beacon RSSI threshold; and steertraffic to the EUTRAN based on said determination that the WLAN channelutilization is greater than the WLAN channel utilization threshold, theWLAN downlink backhaul rate is less than the WLAN downlink backhaul ratethreshold, the WLAN uplink backhaul rate is less than the WLAN uplinkbackhaul rate threshold, or the beacon RSSI is less than the WLAN beaconRSSI threshold.
 20. The one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of claim 19, wherein the RAN assistance parameters further includea reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold value and a referencesignal received quality (RSRQ) threshold value, and the instructions,when executed, further cause the UE to: determine a measured cellreceive level value of the EUTRAN is greater than the RSRP threshold anda measured cell quality value of the EUTRAN is greater than the RSRQthreshold; and steer traffic to the EUTRAN based on said determinationthat the measured cell receive level value corresponding to the EUTRANis greater than the RSRP threshold and the measured cell quality valuecorresponding to the EUTRAN is greater than the RSRQ threshold.